Report: U.S. netted $1.6B from clean-energy trade with China in 2011The U.S. gained a $1.63 billion surplus from clean-energy trading with China in 2011, according to a report from the Pew Charitable Trusts. Wind-power products accounted for more than $920 million in trade between the two biggest economies in 2011, with the U.S. racking up a $146 million trade surplus, the report showed. "We would hope that policymakers in particular will see this and say, 'Look, we have a real competitive advantage here, but we also need to have a constructive trade relationship with China,'" said Phyllis Cuttino, who leads Pew's clean energy program. U.S. News & World Report
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Acciona moves to gain compliance with Brazil's local-content ruleSpain's Acciona will launch a wind-turbine-hub assembly plant near the Brazilian city of Salvador on March 11 in a bid to comply with development bank BNDES' local-content rule on wind-turbine parts, a spokeswoman said. Last year, BNDES stopped giving out loans to companies that bought wind turbines from Acciona and four other suppliers that it said fell short of meeting the rule on local components. Bloomberg
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Get It Right: Pricing Strategies That WorkMany entrepreneurs hope for success by offering low prices, while in fact most world-class entrepreneurs succeed by setting higher prices. If you're not exactly sure which pricing strategy will work for your business, these 6 steps can help you set your company's prices for success. Read the exclusive article now.

Lack of funds may force N.M. transmission agency to closeThe New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority will close its doors on June 30 if it doesn't get the $250,000 operational funds set aside in a current budget bill, said Executive Director Jeremy Turner. Although RETA has made gains in advancing major transmission projects, those projects will take years to complete and provide the revenue that the authority needs to become self-sufficient, Turner said. "The reality is without the operational funding that is currently in the budget, on June 30 of this year RETA will close its doors," Turner said. SNL Financial (free content)
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How SDN Makes Campus Networks BetterWhen should agencies adopt SDN? IDC reports that SDN provides immediate benefits for government campus networks, including modernized IT infrastructures that are more agile, cost-effective, and collaborative.Read this new IDC paper to learn more.

Lawmakers urged to support offshore energy developmentSupporting the development of offshore energy resources, including wind power, would create jobs, boost the economy and help the U.S. become energy independent, executives and local officials said during a House of Representatives subcommittee hearing. Given the right support mechanisms, a robust offshore wind industry could contribute more than $30 billion to the national economy, push down electricity rates in the long term and boost the country's power-transmission capacity, said Robert Mitchell, CEO of Atlantic Grid Development. SNL Financial (free content)
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Bills would give tax incentives to offshore wind projectsBills that would extend a 30% investment tax credit to the first 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind generation capacity were unveiled in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Under the bills, developers that receive the tax incentive would have five years to complete their projects and would be disqualified from getting other investment or production tax credits. "If we want to harness this untapped, domestic energy source, providing investment tax incentives for our country's first offshore wind projects is essential," said Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., who co-sponsored the bill in the Senate. SNL Financial (free content)
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AWEA News

Fact Check: Editorial Goes Astray on Calif. Integration of WindThe Wall Street Journal carried an article recently by Rebecca Smith on the growth of renewable energy in California and the effect on its electric utility system. The article makes several incorrect and unsupported assertions. Read more.

Scientific progress makes moral progress a necessity; for if man's power is increased, the checks that restrain him from abusing it must be strengthened."

--Anne Louise Germaine de Staël,Swiss author

These stories were selected and summarized by independent editors at SmartBrief Inc., not by AWEA's staff, and do not represent AWEA positions. They reflect the variety of daily coverage of American wind power.